The Lancer
The Lancer was Hollis Calloway's prized vessel, stolen from the Black Hills Gang and serving as the lead vessel in the Hazard's fleet during the early days of their career. Unfortunately for Hollis, the ship was scuttled during the Battle for Cannoneer's Alley by Lucky Jim Haverstram's men, and was lost forever. Description The Lancer was a mid-sized raidship loaded with port and starboard-side cannons, a crow's nest, multiple cabins, a bunkroom, a mess hall and a sizable ship's hold. For a time, the hold was used for both storage and the surgical enclosure of Dr. Reinholdt Mann, The Hazards' sawbones and physician. History The Lancer was originally owned by Lucius Doherty, leader of the Black Hills Gang. Doherty had sailed upon it during his time as a lieutenant for Alexander Croup, the Bandit King, and earned himself a reputation for ruthless efficiency and fearless tactics. After Croup died and the gang fell to infighting, it was his past use of The Lancer that sold Doherty as the right choice to take up the mantle. Though not as powerful or devastating as his flagship, The Righteous Indignation, The Lancer held a special place in Doherty's heart. Then, one night, a team of pirates calling themselves The Ruffians snuck into Black Hills Point. Originally Black-Hillsmen, The Ruffians were banished from the Point after the failed mutiny of John Barnum, another of Croup's lieutenants. The Ruffians returned to the point in secret, sending in a small team comprised of Hartford Reeves, Old Grenouille, Victor Hansen and Arlen Tremayne to steal them a raidship. As luck would have it, the team picked The Lancer at random and began rigging it to quietly sail out under the Hillsmen's noses. It was then than an impatient John Barnum stormed the Point's gates, hopelessly outnumbered, and threw the whole scheme into turmoil. Through some quick thinking on Hollis' part, the Point's armory was sabotaged to create an explosive distraction, allowing the rest of the Ruffian raid party to escape to the ship. The ensuing chase saw The Lancer take serious damage to it's hull, deck and mast, but The Ruffians escaped regardless. The Ruffians (later known as the Hazards) made repairs and improvements to The Lancer over time, overseen by the architect, Killarney Yawpton. The hull was reinforced, the cannons were replaced and the mast was put back in working order. By the time a few months had gone by, the ship was nearly unrecognizable, to everyone except its original owner. In the Doherty Incident, Hartford Reeves nearly led The Lancer to its destruction, placing it in the crosshairs of a vengeful and traitorous Lucius Doherty. Were it not for a sudden and unexpected backfire of the flagship's main cannon, The Retribution, The Lancer would have been destroyed in the battle. Luckily, the ship made it out of the Incident unscathed. The Lancer remained in The Hazards care throughout their misadventures, leading up to their time at Fort Etoufette. Initially, it was one of a set of four raidships, used to defend the Fort and take part in raids throughout the southern and eastern waters. Its fellow members of the Hazards Fleet were The Tempest, The Daedalus and The Liberty. Then came the Battle of Cannoneer's Alley, and the regrettable destruction of two captains' favorite vessel. When Haverstram's Cannoneers turned their guns on the unsuspecting Hazards, The Lancer was the only ship to fall under their barrage. Simultaneous assaults by cannonfire and explosive oil barrels dealt catastrophic damage to the ship's hull and deck, causing the whole ship to sink to the bottom of Cannoneer's Alley. Though much of the crew survived, there was nothing left of the Lancer.